Focusing on Technology Solutions for Government: Why It’s More Important Now Than Ever

This summer, we announced the hiring of Betsy Appleby, who joined the HSO US team as Vice President & Global Industry Director, Public Sector. Betsy is leading HSO’s public sector practice, driving our go-to-market strategy for solutions based on Microsoft technology for government. She’ll collaborate with other key teams to identify and address the biggest challenges that governments and government agencies—from the federal to the municipal level—are facing today.

That’s a big ask, considering what we’ve been through since early 2020, but these challenges have always been there at some level. While HSO has had a thriving practice around technology for government, we are continuing to invest in it to provide increased value governments of all sizes need and are demanding. As part of that investment strategy, we sought a person with Betsy’s background to lead the team in discovering new, innovative ways to address those challenges with the appropriate technology.

But before we touch on what her team is working on, here’s why we tapped Betsy for the job:

A leader in the public sector

A seasoned industry veteran, Betsy has committed her career to working with the public sector to support governments in their efforts to better serve the people and businesses that depend on them. She specializes in building teams that apply technology to key areas, including acquisitions, contracting, and responding to demand.

With real-world experience, Betsy understands how decisions are made and how solutions are delivered. Beginning her career in the Department of Defense as a Program Manager, she led enterprise scale modernization efforts and later transitioned to working with system integrators and commercial technology companies.

In short, she is ready to tackle those challenges, and so is her team … and that’s good when you think about what we need to address.

Where do we begin?

It’s been nearly two years. And it’s still going. Major events—whether good or bad—tend to unearth where we’re strong as well as what we need to work on. One overall statement that most of us will agree on is that, when we are on the same page, we are pretty brilliant. And when it comes to technology, that’s not a statement about mindset or principles or politics…it’s about data. That’s right…data.

Access to data and information creates a lot of armchair experts in the areas of science and research.  This puts pressure on public sector institutions that extends beyond the traditional check and balances for transparency in government.  Industry partners have a shared interest in responsible and sustainable solutions. 

When you think about all the mission areas that public sector organizations cover, it is daunting.  We have seen snapshots of what happens when technology fails, the impact of  human intervention or bad actors or the unintended consequences of technological modernization.  Power, clean water, trusted food supply, safe communities, trusted financial exchange, availability of medical care, and roadways and bridges are just a few of the services we depend on everyday from public sector organizations.

With everything from cyber attacks and supply chain issues to denial of services and funds being delayed, our governments—from the federal to the municipal level—have experienced it all. The common thread has been the availability of data and the ability to leverage the data for timely decision making.

The right technology for government allows data to be stored safely in the cloud, where it can then flow to and between applications and presented to humans and/or AI and for easy consumption. This enables government agencies to smooth operations internally, communicate and collaborate with other levels of government, and get visibility around assets and partnerships. By eliminating the silos, governments operate more effectively—in concert—and citizens benefit.

Good timing and the right approach to technology for government

It’s hard to argue that this is the right time for a technology provider to invest in working with governments at all levels—to put the concepts of digital transformation, modernization, cloud technology, and low-code/no-code app development into action to support their initiatives.

And we believe we’re the right provider to do just that:

• We’ve been working with governments and government agencies for more than 20 years, so we understand how they work and what they struggle with.
• We know how important it is to look at processes and initiatives from a higher level to understand how data should flow.
• We have very strong private sector practices as well, which uniquely positions us to understand what citizens and companies want when they’re working with governments.
• And finally, we’re a global organization, which gives us the benefit of sharing best practices from around the world.

The bottom line is this: We are investing in our public sector business because there is so much riding on the success of our governments and public sector agencies, and we intend to be part of the solution.

Want to learn more?

• Hear why McHenry County, IL chose Microsoft Dynamics 365 as their ERP solution and HSO as their implementation partner
• Read how a state’s Office of Management & Enterprise Services tackled a “reshape” across all departments with HSO and Microsoft Dynamics 365 Project Operations
• Read more about our solutions for state and local government